Italian
“Sometimes in life things change in the time it takes to breathe, even before we can get used to it”.
We are so prone to getting used to things, to events, that when everything suddenly changes we are shocked. Life, instead, is a continuous change, embracing changes is the path to serenity. Resisting them inevitably leads us to suffer.
Clichés condition our minds and lock us into thoughts that create discomfort.
An ancient oriental story titled “The Muddy Road” tells of two Zen monks who were walking along a road made muddy by heavy rain. Just around a curve, they noticed a beautiful young woman by the side of the road about to cross. The young woman was wearing a Kimono and a silk scarf, and out of fear of getting dirty, she hesitated to cross. The two monks approached her: “Come, young lady,” said the first one, picking her up and carrying her to the other side of the road.
Once they had helped the girl, the monks continued in silence on their long journey. Five hours later, near the temple where they would be staying, the second monk could no longer hold back the thought that had been crowding his mind for hours: “We monks do not approach women,” he said to the first monk, “especially young and pretty ones, it’s dangerous, why did you do it?”
The first monk looked at the second one very calmly and replied: “I left that girl down there hours ago. Why are you still carrying her?”
What happens when we develop negative thoughts and remain fixated on past moments? It means that we are unable to live in the present, that we keep our mind on the event that caused us discomfort, keeping it constantly alive and fueling the inner conflict. On the other hand, those who live in the here and now are able to let things go so that everything that has passed is not a source of disturbance.
The past and the future are times in which one cannot intervene and in which nothing can happen. The past has already happened, so in the here and now it no longer exists, while the future does not even exist as a concept because when it arrives, it is already present. Anything other than the present moment is a trick of the mind. Let’s not be conditioned by something that does not exist here and now.
Let’s get used to living in the present so that we can be in the flow of eternal change.
Maura Luperto
